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Prof Vincent Geenen, you are coordinator of the FP6 Integrated Project called Euro-Thymaide. Why this project, which started in January 2004 with duration of 5 years, needed to include so many partners (25 partners from 12 countries) in the Consortium?

V.Geenen:

"Autoimmune diseases represent a significant burden for the quality of life and health insurance cost. Despite intense research efforts, the mechanisms underlying the development of autoimmune diseases are still largely obscure. This obvious ignorance explains why the current treatment of these chronic diseases remains inadequate and is associated with severe side effects. The Euro-Thymaide approach is mainly based on the major physiological function of the thymus, i.e. to ensure self-tolerance of a diverse repertoire of T-cell receptors, as well as generation of self-antigen specific regulatory T cells.

The main novelty of Euro-Thymaide approach is a coherent and integrated research effort focused on the central organ responsible for the establishment of self-tolerance, which is a cornerstone of immune physiology together with diversity, specificity, and memory.

Euro-Thymaide had a large ambition by regrouping the leader research groups in Europe including 20 academic research centres and 5 biotech SMEs.

There are other research networks that investigate the pathways leading to immunological self-tolerance, but Euro-Thymaide is the first one that is entirely dedicated to research on thymus-dependent (central) self-tolerance."

It is commonly said that coordinating such a large project is not easy. How did you manage to efficiently integrate these different organisations and how did you smoothly maintained a control on these ambitious objectives?

V.Geenen

"To succeed, Euro-Thymaide needed researchers with different scientific and clinical backgrounds, and it had to wheedle them to cooperate. This ambitious and potentially risky project would examine ethically complex and unprecedented experimental trials. But Euro-Thymaide has also been a thorough managerial test. Few of the scientists running it had ever designed multi-site investigations before and many of them work in different cultural and working environment.

As most European integrated projects, Euro-Thymaide is organized in work packages with lead investigators for each WP. Moreover, five biotech SMEs are part of the consortium to assure the rapid exploitation of the scientific results or support technical advances for the research. The journey has not been always easy for the network, in particular to foster strong interactions among partners. After the first revision of the project by the European Commission, it was decided to reinforce integration among the work packages. This led to the implementation of researchers trainings and exchange programmes among laboratories.

The ambitious project objectives require indeed the implementation of a joint program of activities, including exchange of personnel and services between research teams in order to provide a viable basis for focused research collaboration.

In order to elaborate new clinical approaches, an additional SME, ProImmune LTd , (UK) has been recruited by the project in 2006 after an international competitive call, to complete the design of defined multimers, which allow the detection of T cells specific for autoantigens. The network SMEs go Life Sciences (now SMEs go Health) including National Contact Points helped us matching our needs and addressing the European biopharmaceutical SMEs to find the right partner. "

The Euro-Thymaide project has met significant success and has deciphered important tolerogenic mechanisms that take place in the thymus. Is it important to keep this approach in the future calls of FP7?

V. Geenen

"Yes indeed, we have progressed quite fast with the support of the European Commission.

From January 2004, the research activities conducted in the FP6 Integrated Project Euro-Thymaide have provided a track record of novel knowledge (http://www.eurothymaide.org/common/ScientificPublication.asp) that demonstrates a crucial role for thymus-dependent self-tolerance in protection from autoimmunity.
A European database of thymus self-antigens is now available online (http://www.EDTSA.org).

More importantly, the Consortium has provided new clear evidence that a thymus dysfunction is a major initiating event in the development of organ-specific autoimmunity. These results are already paving the way for novel therapeutic approaches aiming at self-tolerance restoration and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Thanks to one dedicated work package, the intrathymic pathways leading to the generation of self-antigen-specific regulatory T cells (Treg) are elucidated, and we are now able to modulate the function of specific naturally occurring Treg through several molecular tools.

Therefore, it clearly appears that the integration of Euro-Thymaide research activities performed by European scientists has generated original and meaningful insights into our knowledge of the biological and genetic mechanisms at the basis of organ-specific autoimmune diseases.

For these reasons and its specific European touch, we are convinced that “Thymus, self-tolerance and autoimmunity” is a fundamental topic that should be maintained and listed in one of the future calls launched in the European Framework Programme 7. "

With your experience, what would be your 5 key recommendations for the coordinators of FP7 financed projects?

V. Geenen: "I would cleraly recommend the following:"

1. A clear definition of the research objective(s).
2. A high level of communication within and between work packages.
3. To delegate management responsibilities to specialists in this domain.
4. To support integration of biotech SMEs.
5. A good level of communication and confidence with the Scientific Officer of the European Commission.

Contact and Info:

Vincent GEENEN MD, PhD — FNRS Research Director
Institute of Pathology CHU-B23
Liege University Center of Immunology
B-4000 Liege — Sart Tilman / Belgium
Tél.: 32 43 66 25 50 - Fax: 32 43 66 98 59
vgeenen@ulg.ac.be
www.eurothymaide.org